Colour in Books: Between Decoration and Articulation
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Saint John Chrysostom was an early Church Father, renowned for his interpretation of the Bible and his preaching. This edition of his works was printed by Andreas Cratander, who mainly produced Latin and Greek classical texts. Cratander’s device (or trademark), designed by Hans Holbein the Younger, incorporates Kairos, the goddess of opportunity, below a Greek motto that translates as: “In all things it is best to take advantage of the right time”.
Throughout this copy, woodcut illustrations and borders have been hand-painted with watercolours that were translucent enough not to obscure the lines. The colour red has also been applied to the text itself, a technique already adopted in incunables (books printed before 1501). In order to articulate the text and highlight its structure, every capital letter at the beginning of a sentence has a red stroke, and running titles at the head of the page and homily numbers are underlined.
Author: Catholic Church
Title: Canones Concilii Provincialis Coloniensis (Cologne, 1538)
Shelfmark: F.3.21(2) (catalogue record)
